Wwoofer help

Well we have had our first 4 wwoofers to help on the farm. We have been most fortunate to have had some very nice people come and stay.
The first young lady was just so special and I wish Erin absolute joy on the rest of her path. She sprinkles magic dust wherever she goes.

All 4 did very well for people with no real farming experience. We got a lot of garlic planted, a serious area of potato tyres done(thanks to Melissa) and some other veggies too. We temporarily tamed some of the kikuyu- hopefully our pigs will be ready soon. 3 I think.

We cleared some wattle- at least a good path to the spring and source of water to the cottage.

I have learnt that we cannot eat with the volunteers every night or get too involved in their lives. Maybe we are too soft but we all suffer parting anxiety- especially Max. It has taken a lot of reassurance that we are not all leaving. I guess at 5 things like this can be a bit confusing.

I found I put in a lot of work doing food and I thought I'd have more time to do the other stuff- like extra school and sorting out this half done house. I felt obliged to make sure the volunteers had a lot of variety in their food and it seems it was not expected (although they all appreciated it). In future, I will be allowing them (and me) to be more independent and to be responsible for their own well-being. After all they are all adults or they would not be here.
Look forward to some photos of the fruits of their labour.

The year from hell

I know I have been an awful blogger with few posts over the last many months. You cannot imagine all the garbage we have had to contend with- starting with rolling my Mum's car, bearings on mine, batteries, 4 wheel drive and other car stuff, through losing 3 (and tomorrow a 4th) beloved animals, financial woes with the rest of the world, bee stings gone allergic (weird!) and blah blah blah! It really has been just 1 thing after another and I am still without the ability to upload pics.

To solve the last problem, I will be hijacking the perpetrator's laptop so you can expect some pics soon.

We finally got Mum a new car after 7 months of hunting and a few drama moments along the way.
Our study of bee-keeping showed me I will have to be very careful when working with our soon to be hives as I had an allergic reaction I have never had before.
We will be acquiring some more laying hens and a new dog along the way although another animal cannot replace those lost. Cats we still have enough for now!
As for water supply, internet connection and huge electricity bills- the plans are along to resolve those too. (have you seen this great site www.builditsolar.com?) Not to mention a giant SARS bill of which I knew nothing. Sadly, the 3 professionals I have paid since 1997 have not been at all professional. SARS does not care if you are receiving their letters of demand or if your accountant is. Ignorance means lots of penalties- not bliss! Eish!

We braved a 5 year old's birthday party the other day and told him to stop growing. He says bigger kids have better toys so- NO.

We have various Wwoofers arriving from May 3rd through to the end of July so we will have some help and some outside interaction (maybe a good thing or you can go a bit nuts with each other!) With the extra hands, we can begin some of the fun projects we have been putting off. Perhaps their help will allow me the time to sort out that financial demon too.

Saving the planet

From the Seventh Generation dish washing liquid bottle's label:

"If every household in the US replaced just 1 bottle of 25oz petroleum-based dish washing liquid with our plant-derived product, we could save

86 000 barrels of oil - enough to heat & cool 4 900 US homes for a year!"

Now if only we had a dish washing product that works as well as this one- MADE IN SA! Imagine the miles I'd save. Eh Bernhard?!

Fig pickles

My friendly neighbour gave me some green figs for jam- Granny is actually the jam & chutney queen- and I have made a pickle. It turned out so well, I thought others might like them too. I think this will go well with a cheeseboard.

Ingredients:
15 medium figs (chop in halves or quarters)
1 medium onion (sliced finely and then in half)
1/2 a chilli (I used a whole one and it was HOT)
about 200ml sugar but add it slowly to taste
a small handful of dried currants ( but I will try sultanas next time)
half a cup of naturally fermented grape vinegar
5 all spice berries
5 cloves smashed together with the all spice
a large pinch of salt
a splash of olive oil

lightly fry the onions in the olive oil, put the lid on and sweat them until soft. Add half the sugar and stir to melt. Add the vinegar, salt and spices. Mix, then add the figs and currants. I had to add half a cup of water now. Cook until the figs are nearly soft. Taste and add more sugar if you like. Cook it slowly until most of the liquid has evaporated and it is a soft and sticky pickle.

Even husband who doesn't like figs or spicy food, liked it.
Now for those prickly pears he gave me...

Linux and it's connections still evade me for photos.

In the meantime, I have learnt something new about hens. 1 of my 5 was not looking her normal perky self and another had a constantly dirty bottom. I cleaned and cut the bottom feathers on the dirty bottom and called the vet about the sad hen.
Syptoms: droopy tail, sitting and randomly walking alone, not staying with the flock around the farmyard
Vet's solution: anti-biotics and de-worming where you can't eat the eggs for 2 weeks (throw out 70 eggs)
Sue's solution: abdomen massage (in case of egg binding), crushed garlic in their food, diatomaceous earth in their food (worms) and more on their bodies (dusted between their feathers) and in their house (mites/ fleas), their food in a flat dish instead of on the grass (worm eggs) and more rigorous house cleaning.
Result: 2 very large eggs and 2 days later -clean bottoms and tail feathers up.

Phew! Thanks to the internet and lots of trolling to find all this info. The only thing I did not do and probably will still, is a few drops of apple cider vinegar in their water. Must get some organic apple cider from Lorraine Farm Trust- best stuff and still full of mother (the yeast that makes it vinegar).

34 degrees in the shade- in October!

What will it be like in January and February? The dogs are comatose on the cold concrete, the hens have been rolling in their dust bath (sand, DE & wood ash) since early this morning and the family is all resting. Max is wide awake but being very good and lying down. Difficult for a 4 year-old.

I think the sorbet I made with last spring's strawberries will be just the thing for a waking up snack.

We tried to work this morning but it was blowing a berg wind and 24 degrees at 7.30 already. A quick water of our newly planted tree saplings in the nursery and a rough cover up with some shade cloth is about all we managed. Hopefully, that wind means rain- and lots of it!

The roads trucks came to fix the seriously damaged servitude road into our farm- hopefully that rain won't wash it all away again.

Did I mention the owl sitting on 2 eggs? She's still there and I think it's a Scops Owl but not sure. Perhaps I can lure Mr Cape Nature out here to identify the pair.
He may want to come and see the fire damage in the mountain. Very scary with the wind blowing the ash and smoke into the house and a huge orange scar across the mountain at night. Thank goodness 2 days of helicopters and fire fighting brought it under control. Now bring that rain to help the fynbos recover!
(photos to follow when I have mastered this new Linux PC)

The Bull

It seems that trying to keep business going in "the city" and have the safe life of a farm, is a difficult balancing act. No-one believes you when you tell them your cell signal is random and they definitely don't believe that your land line goes awol with every high wind or rainstorm. Well, it is and it does.

Also, for us to fetch letters or parcels from the post office to make your shares worth anything, is 26kms there on winding hilly dusty roads and 26kms home. And when you lie and say you have sent something and we get there and you didn't, we are naturally a bit miffed. It takes at least a precious hour of daylight when we can be working our arses off doing something worthwhile. Like picking actual poo for the compost heaps instead of dealing with corporate bullshit.

I certainly will take the simplicity of farm life and work over my previous life. At least this is honest work. Got to become completely self-sustaining so as to avoid these irritations.